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Herein, we fabricated a more sensitive nonenzymatic electrochemical sensor for the selective determination of hydroquinone as a targeted pollutant at zinc@zinc oxide (Zn@ZnO) core-shell nanostructures. The nanostructured Zn@ZnO materials were produced using pulsed laser ablation in an aqueous medium without the use of any reducing agents or surfactants. The detailed structural, morphological, elemental composition, and electrochemical voltammetric analyses revealed a significant improvement in Zn@ZnO performance for selective hydroquinone detection. A broad linear calibration response was obtained as 10–90 μM with high sensitivity of 0.5673 μA μM−1 cm−2 and the low detection limit was 0.10443 μM for detection of hydroquinone. The modified Zn@ZnO electrode's excellent electrochemical sensing performance was attributed to the accessibility of a high electrochemically active surface area (EASA = 0.00345 μF/cm2) and an improved electron transfer rate. Stability and antiinterference tests were also carried out. A 100 fold increase in the concentration of common cations and anions (Na+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO 4 2−, and NO 3 −) did not affect the selective determination of HQ. As a result, the fabricated electrochemical sensor has a wide range of potential applications in environmental and biomedical science. • Zn@ZnO core shell was prepared by pulsed laser ablation method. • Zn@ZnO based electrochemical sensor was developed for hydroquinone detection. • Fabricated sensor exhibits high sensitivity with LOD of 0.10 μM in 10–90 μM range. • Excellent selectivity and stability were observed from Zn@ZnO towards HQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of bilayer heterojunctions has received considerable attention recently. Fabrication of novel bilayer composites is of significant interest to improve their photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2), a layered dichalcogenide material exhibiting unique properties, in combination with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4), a carbon-based layered material, was fabricated with small amounts of zinc oxide (ZnO). Three composites, MoS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 , MoS 2 /ZnO, and MoS 2 /g-C 3 N 4 /ZnO were prepared via a simple exfoliation method and characterized by various physicochemical methods. The Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism in the prepared ternary composite improves efficiency by inhibiting the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. It has shown excellent performance in degrading a major water contaminant, malachite green (MG) dye, under visible light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]